Around Town with Judy Martini: Local Olympian honored in Fox Lake

on
Monday, April 25, 2016

The past week was filled with activities to cheer on Daniel Dennis in his quest to win a gold medal for the U.S. Olympic Wrestling Team in Rio de Janeiro this summer. A rally was held on Friday to honor Dennis, a 2005 graduate of Grant High School in Fox Lake.

After a very successful career in wrestling while at Grant, Dennis was a two time IHSA state finalist, he went on to the University of Iowa where he continued his wrestling career and became a two time All-American. He currently trains and resides in Iowa City.

Dennis' proud mother Jane, along with his brother Charlie, still resides in the Ingleside area. The family is trying to raise money to help with expenses to travel to Rio and support his quest for gold. Anyone wishing to donate to help this humble man’s dream come true and help the family be there to cheer him on can do so on the go-fund-me site by clicking here. To also help this cause, a recent fundraiser was held at Fairmont Shores where numerous past coaches, teachers, friends of the family and classmates showed up to support Dennis.The Village of Fox Lake held a beautiful parade to show support for Dennis. Being such a humble person, Dennis refused the kind offers of car dealerships to sponsor a new car for him to ride in for the parade. Dennis proudly rode in the old beat up pickup truck he once lived in for several years. The Village of Fox Lake proclaimed April 24th as Daniel Dennis Day and is thinking about having another parade for him sometime in August, that they hope will be as a winner of a gold medal!